Observations on what's around me and projects I'm working on.


12 years of life added over the last 50 years

Listening to Professor Sir John Bell interviewed by John Burn-Murdoch on Radical, 28 May 2026: we haven’t really told the story properly, and it’s gone sort of unrecognised in my view, but since I was a medical student to now, we have, in the UK, added 12 years to life expectancy, on average, for every person in the...
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Laptop cable detection

WhatCable looks handy (seen via DenseDiscovery): $ whatcable=== Port-MagSafe 3@1 (MagSafe 3) ===Charging · 94W chargerPower is flowing. No data connection.• Charger advertises up to 94W• Currently negotiated: 20V @ 4.69A (94W)Charging: Charging well at 94WCharger and cable are well-matched.=== Port-USB-C@1 (USB-C)...
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Who is responsible when AI makes a mistake?

Another thing from that MHRA session I mentioned is the thinking around mistakes. What I took from Lawrence Tallon’s comments is that there are two elements: safety and then liability. Safety For drugs, there’s a chunky barrier to market because once you swallow it, you’re committed. The difference for AI is that it’s...
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Reviewing AI summaries with your clinician would help build trust

I tuned into the MHRA's "National AI Commission: Ask me Anything" session. It wasn’t a real AMA, but more of an update on the engagement work they've been doing on AI and healthcare in the UK. I think it was Henrietta Hughes who suggested reviewing AI output with your doctor. I like the idea. Is there enough time in a...
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Natural disasters

Disasters are certainly not natural: hazards are natural. Disasters come as a result of how we live, how we build structures, how we plan and organise our environments — Horace Glaze, operations manager, Red Cross, Jamaica quoted in Delayed Gratification 61.
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The fundamental difficulty of walking the dog on a sunny day

The fundamental difficulty of walking the dog on a sunny day
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National Emergency Briefing screening

Becky alerted me to a screening of the National Emergency Briefing's film "The People’s Emergency Briefing". This is not a film you can see on the telly or elsewhere (yet), because rather smartly the organisers want people to meet, watch, and discuss. You can likely find a free screening near you, or host one for your...
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Tingling or buzzing feet

Reading Why do heights make your feet feel strange?, The Conversation, 8 May 2026. I assumed everyone had this sensation when faced with a drop, but that's not true. Near a drop, the brain begins to rely more heavily on signals from the feet, effectively turning up their volume. Small shifts in pressure and sway are...
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Some companies are good at handling death and some are not

An example from the "not good" camp: they ask for a bunch of details at a stressful time in a format no human would normally use. It took me five attempts, and after the first I wondered if it was phishing. Most of Nationwide has been adequate to good. But not this bit.
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The Imposter Club (weekends in May 2026)

During the festival, the co-working space I use in Brighton becomes The Imposter Club artists open house. Cartoons, photos, printing (2D and 3D), installations, interactive art, and "doodling is good for you" workshops. Just turn up, have a poke around. The last day of the club is Sunday, 24 May 2026.
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Tuesday 12 May 2026 is Mass Observation Diary Day, which "is about recording everyday life in the UK for future generations". This year we are keen to hear about your thoughts and feelings about nature and wellbeing as well as anything else you would like to share about your day. The submission page is over...
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Dogs have lots of teeth

At the dog’s annual service, the vet noticed trauma on two teeth. Looks like Breezy had chewed on something too enthusiastically, and those teeth would have to come out. That operation was yesterday. While the dog was recovering, the vet called with a shock. The x-rays showed up damage the vet hadn’t been able to see....
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At the UCL Advanced Therapies Symposium 2026

It’s good to know your limits, and I met them hard the other week at an event on cell therapies, CAR-T, and gene therapies. It’s an exciting area for personalised treatment. It could involve taking a cell, reprogramming the genome, and popping it back in. Doing that, you’ve perhaps taught your cells how to fight a...
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"Large, weird, monstrous forms"

You go out for a perfectly normal dog walk along Hove Lawns, and you find sculptures. Big ones. We guess about 4m tall. Up close, they look to be made of twigs, held together with what feels like a sand-like coating. Yes, it's Brighton Festival time. And this is Soft Machines:
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At "Claude Code Anonymous"

Earlier in the month I was at the first Brighton Claude Code Anonymous meet-up. Lightning talks and chat, around agentic coding (not limited to Claude). I’m unsure of the etiquette, so I’ll name the things I found interesting rather than the people presenting them. On running models locally, the hardware to look out for...
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